According to state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, House Study Bill 631/HF 2434 would allow the county board of supervisors to declare EMS an essential service without calling for an election.

Under Iowa Code, emergency medical services are not considered essential like police and fire protection.

And that makes funding for EMS more of a challenge.

“Our EMS doesn’t have the ability for enough funding,” said Sexton, who supports the proposed bill. “That’s the basic part of it. When EMS becomes an essential service, it opens it up that they can get federal funding. When it’s an essential service there’s a lot more doors that get open.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Jordan Erie, a paramedic, right, is all smiles as he and Morgan Derrig, an EMT, stand near an ambulance at the Fort Dodge Fire Department on Wednesday. Derrig and Erie are members of the Fort Dodge Fire EMS. A proposed bill in the State Legislature would make it easier for counties to declare EMS as an essential service.

Funding for EMS typically comes through the general fund of a city.

By making it essential through an election, funding for EMS comes through citizens in the way of a local option sales tax or an ad valorem property tax.

Wright County is one example of a county that went through the process of making EMS essential.

In August 2017, the Wright County Board of Supervisors declared EMS an essential service and called for a special election.

The election was held in the summer of 2018.

Almost 70% of the county supported the measure.

Residents there pay about 67.8 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to support EMS.

Once considered an essential service, it has to be re-approved every five years.

The proposed bill, which was introduced by state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, would eliminate the need for an a election. It would also eliminate the five-year sunset that requires voters re-approve the measure.

“He’s (Kaufmann) been working on trying to get this EMS stuff handled for the last several years,” Sexton said.

Kaufmann said addressing EMS in Iowa is critical.

“I think it’s one of the most important issues the state can address,” Kaufmann said. “Rural EMS is very much in dire straits — low on volunteers and funds.”

One requirement under the bill is that counties must form an EMS advisory board. The board would be asked to develop how the EMS program would be structured throughout the county.

Current law only allows counties to enter into 28E agreements with other counties. This bill would allow counties to enter into 28E agreements with other entities besides counties.

EMS is particularly concerning in rural parts of the state, where it can take more time to reach someone in need of medical assistance.

“One of the things I’ve seen was a map of how fast it takes the ambulance or EMS team to get to our rural residents and in some of our rural counties it’s starting to approach 15 to 20 minutes,” Sexton said. “I’m not a medical person, but if you’re having a heart attack or a farm accident or even a car accident, a lot of bad things can happen in that amount of time.”

Classifying EMS as essential is one way to combat those problems.

“In Calhoun (County), we have a full-time EMS so we are lucky,” Sexton said. “But a lot of counties rely on volunteers. In rural Iowa we are running out of volunteers. This would open up some funding to have one or two people to maybe be full-time instead of volunteers.”

The bill passed the State Government Committee unanimously. It passed the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday and is eligible for a full debate on the House floor.

“I am going to support it because it’s very important for our rural counties,” Sexton said. “Our rural hospitals and EMS — they really need this.”